Kraken remain quiet as NHL trade deadline passes

COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was expected the Kraken would be quiet at the NHL trade deadline. What followed was complete silence.

Seattle (34-21-6) is banking on its existing group during the final months of the regular season and a potential playoff run. The Kraken front office bolstered the depth on defense with a deal for the San Jose Sharks’ Jaycob Megna on Feb. 5, and that’s all she wrote. Kraken general manager Ron Francis ruled out a late announcement after Friday’s noon PT deadline.

Francis said he’d talked to some of the Kraken’s veteran players leading up to the cutoff.

“At the end of the day, we believed in the group we had and didn’t think there were prices that we were willing to pay at this point to change the chemistry that we have in our locker room currently,” Francis said.

“You bring somebody else in from the outside, especially in a rental position, it changes the dynamics of the locker room. … This team, to the best of my knowledge and my information, likes each other. They believe in what we have.”

While the rest of the league jostled for picks, prospects and impact players, just the Florida Panthers and Kraken stayed put.

“Management has faith in our group. We’ve done well so far this season,” winger Oliver Bjorkstrand said. “I still think we have another level as far as consistency, managing games at certain times.

“But we like our group. We feel comfortable. We’re going to run with it.”

Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reported Friday that the Kraken were “keeping an eye on John Klingberg,” an Anaheim Ducks defenseman and former teammate of Seattle blueliner Jamie Oleksiak. Seravalli also reported the Kraken were “simultaneously entertaining offers on Carson Soucy and Will Borgen to potentially capitalize on some of the high prices on the market.”

Klingberg ultimately landed with the Minnesota Wild.

Many big names were off the board earlier in the week. Jakob Chychrun went from Arizona to Ottawa for a trio of high picks; Detroit picked up a first-rounder from Boston for Tyler Bertuzzi; veteran goaltender Jonathan Quick went bouncing around the league before landing in Vegas; and Patrick Kane finally left Chicago for the New York Rangers.

“At one point there, I thought maybe they moved the trade deadline to Wednesday and nobody told me,” Francis said with a laugh. “There was a lot of action on that day.” 

Soucy was the subject of trade rumors in recent weeks. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season, with forward Ryan Donato and goaltender Martin Jones.

Borgen is due to become a restricted free agent, with fellow defenseman Vince Dunn, both of whom have enjoyed breakout seasons.

“We’ve had sort of small conversations. But at the end of the day, we decided to push it off until the end of the year and let the guys focus on playing and playing as well as they can,” Francis said.

Seattle was widely reported to be seeking the services of James van Riemsdyk, whose second stint with the Philadelphia Flyers appeared to have ended Friday. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported the Colorado Avalanche and Golden Knights were considering the veteran, along with the Kraken. Winger van Riemsdyk was reportedly headed to Detroit, then that deal fell through. He ultimately stayed put.

Meanwhile the Kraken, who were in the midst of a back-to-back with travel, went about their business Friday without hellos or goodbyes.

“This is the group that’s been here since day No. 1,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “This group has worked really hard to put themselves in this position and the focus is [on] continuing to do that together.”

Seattle held on to its 10 picks in the 2023 draft. Francis referenced the Kraken scouts’ belief that this is the best and deepest draft the young franchise will have been involved in.

Note

Francis said though he’d been busy Friday, he believed winger Andre Burakovsky (week to week, lower-body injury) skated for the first time since leaving a game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 7. The Kraken’s former leading scorer (13 goals, 26 assists) has missed 11 games.